Funmi Olaitan, Ibadan
Founder of One Love Family, Mr Satguru Maharaj Ji, has thrown his weight behind call for the restructuring of the country, calling on President Muhammadu Buhari, to as a matter of urgency declare his support for the creation of state police so as to save the country from the needless killings of innocent Nigerians.
He made the call while addressing journalists in a state of the nation address, held at the One Love Family Village, Ibadan.
It would be recalled that Mr Buhari had consistently opposed the restructuring of the country and calls for state police, insisting that nothing is wrong with the present system.
But Maharaj said the time had come to restructure the federal system of government in the country, stating that prevailing reality has given imperative for the federating states the liberty to establish police institutions.
He insisted that the centralized police system that the country is operating has contributed to the widespread insecurity in Nigeria, noting that allowing states to self-police their respective jurisdiction should not be seen as a threat to the unity of the country.
He said, "It is important for Buhari to see himself as President of Nigeria and not of the Fulanis, so he must come out to support the creation of state police in the country. This is one of the ways to put an end to the insecurity that has pervaded the country leading to loss of lives of innocent Nigerians.
"At over 180 million people, Nigeria's huge population spread across 36 federating state units that can never be effectively policed by a single police institution, especially where that institution openly and continuously exhibits all factors that make and prove it outdated and totally unreliable in an increasingly complex Nigeria.
"What we need is the replacement of centralized policing with a de-centralized option or format that ties the safety of Nigerians (and non-Nigerians) resident in everything state to its governor who is statutorily recognized as its Chief Security Officer."
On the sum of N242 billion being proposed to fund 2019 general elections, he said the money is not too much to fund elections in a country like Nigeria.
While berating those individuals and groups making negative comments on the forthcoming elections, Maharaj said contrary to their veiws, many would be surprised that the general elections would be free, fair and successful.
According to him, no amount of money is too big to ensure free, fair and acceptable elections in a country like Nigeria that is blessed with both many untapped natural and human resources, maintaining that as the giant of Africa Nigerians should be more concern on the results of the elections and not the money spent.
He insisted that N242 billion been proposed is not too much to spend on INEC, security agencies and other relevant stakeholders to organize free, fair and acceptable elections in a country of about 73 million eligible voters.
He said , "73 million registered voters in a country of over 180 million people like Nigeria that is giant of Africa, and N242 billion for the general elections in 2019. If the President wants to use trillion naira for the elections, it is not too much, if the President is using billions for elections and security, it is not too much, no amount is too much.
"What we need to do, we need to ask INEC to explain to us what they want to use the money for. We are talking about underage voting, they want to eradicate that, then the votes will count. N242 billion is nothing, so long as the money spent on the elections will manifest.
He further charged Nigerians irrespective of their political or ethnic backgrounds to support the Buhari administration and INEC to ensure that votes count in 2019 elections and acceptable by all and sundry.
He said, "This is what we need to do. All of us, all Nigerians, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Itsekiri, Ijaw, Fulani, all of us in Nigeria. We need to keep Nigeria as one. To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done".
